A visit to Starbucks — a UX Research Case Study
I sat in Starbucks for 1 week to observe its diverse clientele and their goals for visiting Starbucks.
Disclaimer: This study is based on an independent ethnographic fieldwork I conducted in my free time.
You can count on Starbucks for a cup of cappucino, anywhere you go. From Kyoto to the Louvre and mid-mountain on a ski slope, this coffee chain stays open — no — thrives, even in the most unusual locations.
Yet when choosing a cafe to chill with friends on a weekend, everyone knows that Starbucks is not on the list. I’ve heard, time and again, that ‘Starbucks is overrated’. Or, that it is ‘not proper coffee’.
Just do a quick search on Google and you’ll see:
Now, to make the point that the internet isn’t just full of hurt & haters, I did the same Google search on Lavazza — another notably famous coffee chain.
Still, Starbucks continues to thrive — larger and faster than any other coffee chains — despite a popular perception of its bad coffee.
(Bonus: See Starbucks being compared to a spreading STI infection here)
The Puzzle
So — people don’t simply visit Starbucks to drink the coffee.
But if a visit to Starbucks is not driven by a thirst for its coffee, then what? Here, I am putting into question the whole idea that a cafe is just about coffee.
To uncover the other possible selling points of Starbucks, I start by focusing on real people who actually visit and buy from Starbucks.
What are people trying to accomplish when they visit Starbucks?
My objective was to build a comprehensive picture of the ways that people manipulate Starbucks for their own uses.
To do so, I focused on the activities taking place within the space of a Starbucks outlet.
Of course, there is much more to be asked about why and how people develop preferences for Starbucks over other coffee chains — but those are secondary questions; and ideas for another day.
The fieldwork: Sipping coffee and eating bagels
A brief context
Before I tell my story of 7 wonderful days of coffee and bagels in a Starbucks cafe in Singapore, here’s why this local context is fascinating:
(I) Starbucks chains in Singapore can be predictably found in almost all Residential Shopping Malls. These malls are evenly distributed in all the major neighborhoods, and are all-in-one stations for shopping, eating and watching movies.
(II) Given Singapore’s sunny (hot) weather, malls are hangout places for families, high-schoolers and lunchtime colleagues across Singapore.
What this means: High Patronage means we get a diverse sampling of use cases. This translates into High Stakes for Starbucks, given that malls are concentric consumer areas. The homogeneously located Starbucks in Singapore = A sample study of Starbucks in a residential mall will be quite representative of its other chains in Singapore.
What I did <1>: Iterative Observations
For 7 days a week, switching between 8am — 1pm and 2pm — 7pm, I nested myself in the Starbucks cafe.
I traced customers from the moment they stepped into the cafe, followed their paths to the self-serve counter, and observed how they spent their time at their tables.
I split my time between ‘open observation’ and ‘focused observation’.
I made it my Daily Objective to answer the following questions every day, via Focused Observation:
- Who are the patrons?
- What time do they come?
- How long do they stay?
- What are they doing throughout their stay?
Nonetheless, my day starts and ends with Open Observations.
This means being perceptive to everything that is happening around me. Letting the flow of movements and activities dictate my attention.
This allowed me to pick up on surprises and patterns, which I might not have noticed if I was focused on answering my own questions.
It was a constant back-and-forth process, between focus on specific details and a broad absorption of what was happening around me.
In shifting between both types of observation, I was able to elicit the context of when and how Starbucks fit into people’s everyday routines.
Here is the template I used to organize and record my daily observations on Evernote :
(Bonus: See tips on how others integrate Evernote into their research here)
One of the first things I did was also to sketch out the space of the cafe.
I started to create ‘Zones of Activities’ within the space of this Starbucks. Everyday, my field notes improved as I slowly understood the patterns within this space.
What I did <2>: Talk to customers (and unethically eavesdrop)
The only constant was the coffee on table and notebook in my hand. Everything else, I kept variable — I didn’t jump on new thought-wagons too early.
I even kept my own position variable: I swapped seats, taking in the different sensory experiences and activities at the centre. I talked to different people.
It was not enough to simply look. It cannot just be all about what I thought was happening. So here’s what I did: I talked to people around me.
I crafted ‘what-how-why’ sequenced questions:
— What led you here today? (Context)
— How has it been going? How did you find it so far? (Task — Satisfaction)
— Why not X, Y, or Z alternative choices? (Reflection)
These questions helped elicit consumers’ own opinions and interpretations.
Here’s an example:
“I’m waiting for the Toys’r’us to open so that I can exchange this faulty Bubble Gun I bought to shoot my wedding video… (What: Context)
…it’s a bit noisy and distracting today, usually it’s more quiet (How: Task — Satisfaction)
…but I visit this Starbucks and not the Coffee Bean next door because it’s comfortable, even though Coffee Bean has this ‘original blend’ which is (of) better quality” (Why not: Reflection)
I also eavesdropped on informal conversations happening around me, which provided a more comprehensive and intimate perspective to how people were experiencing the space themselves.
The Findings
By the end of my ethnography, my notebook was lingering with the smell of coffee beans.
I now had massive amounts of observation and interview data — now I needed to piece them together to answer my question (here’s a reminder):
What are people trying to accomplish when they visit Starbucks?
Going through my Evernotes observations, I noticed repeated patterns in the way people used and acted in specific spaces in the Starbucks cafe. This prompted my 2 following decisions:
First, I drew up ‘Activity’ codes — What People Did and matched them to ‘Zones of Activity’ — Where They Did It.
Second, ‘Attributes’ were use-value themes drawn up after cross-referencing my observations (what people do) with interviews (what people say).
Here’s an illustration:
This analysis revealed that Starbucks catered to a diverse range of motivations and needs through its design.
There is something for everyone — and not just coffee.
Take for example, this Family of 3 — Dad, Mum and Daughter that I observed:
The Family settles at a Low Table. Dad orders a hot tea and picks up a newspaper from the self-serve rack to read. Daughter orders the newest pink ‘AMAZE’ Frappuccino. Mum opens up a box of fried chicken wings and is snacking on it. Pointing to the High Table, Dad tells Daughter: “if you want to do your homework, (you) can go there”, and Mum adds, “there is better, more proper”. Dad then proceeds to shift some chairs to make space for the Daughter at the High Table.
The point here is that Starbucks offers a space that not only guides actions (zones of activity) but also provides choice for using the space in different ways.
Indeed, the experience in Starbucks is one of ‘busying’ rather than an active focus on eating or drinking — it is selling its space.
From working to waiting to nursing a baby and relaxing, Starbucks enabled a space for refuge, away from the hustle and bustle of the public space.
All you had to do was buy a drink.
Starbucks served effectively as a Second Home: a digital living room with coffee, tea, snacks, wifi and air-conditioning.
Easy access to adjustments and customizations — from peppering your drink with chocolate powder to bringing your own food and shifting chairs around — places comfort in the hands of customers, who are enabled to feel and act ‘at home’.
So, what are people trying to accomplish when they visit a Starbucks outlet?
As we have seen, there can be infinite variations, but underlying all these jobs-to-be-done is one convergent principle: people gather in Starbucks for a time-out; a liminal and safe oasis, to attend to their own immediate priorities at ease.
Going forth…Translating Lessons into Action
While this independent ethnographic study placed heavy emphasis on simply understanding consumers of Starbucks, the resulting insights can also serve as foundational resources for further action.
Further Action #1: Find out what are the current obstacles and pain points of Starbucks consumers. Not only why they come here, but what could make it a smoother — even delightful — experience?
Further Action #2: Contextualize this study’s findings by carrying out or comparing against studies of other coffee chains. What gives Starbucks a competitive edge?
Further action #3: Carry out simple prototyping of an improved, ‘homey’ Starbucks based on this study’s findings of consumers’ jobs-to-be-done, and bringing it to Starbucks consumers for feedback. What will further advance its existing use-value?
I hope this case study has proved useful or meaningful in some ways — be it methodologically or via the discovered insights.
It’s all about the process, about learning — so hit me up if you liked any aspects of what I’ve done, have any comments, or want to share what you’ve done!
‘ABOUT ME’
An anthropology graduate based in London, with a passion for crafting and conducting independent field work to answer difficult human questions.
Other projects: How to use a Library in the 21st Century | ‘Doing’ Dignity in a homeless shelter in London | Building Relationships in a Hair Salon in Soho
